An eye-opening visit to Kowloon Bay Plastic Sorting Centre

On 16 November 2017, our Green Officers attended a visit to the Kowloon Bay Plastic Sorting Centre to learn more about what’s happening around Hong Kong generally on plastic recyclables. The sorting centre currently performs as an interim support measure locally to collect, sort and recycle waste plastic of Category 1 and 2 (i.e. polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE)). Followed by the preliminary process such as sorting and baling, the collected waste plastic will be sent to downstream and suitable recycling outlets.

The visit offered the Green officers an impressive lesson on the plastic waste problem in Hong Kong and insights on plastic reduction. They were introduced to the various types of common plastics and their respective numbering as well as the procedures of plastics weighing, sorting, and handling. By participating in an activity to manually sort the plastics and remove the lids from the bottles, they were reminded of the importance of clean recycling and rinsing of bottle containers before dropping them into collection bins.